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The T2 is the corporation income tax return, and every corporation files one each year, even when there’s no tax to pay. The deadline is six months after your tax year end. The payment is due sooner than that, and that gap is where most late penalties start.
The name trips people up because the same letters get stuck on unrelated products. Here we mean the return itself, the form your corporation sends the CRA once a year. The CRA’s own page on the corporation income tax return says resident corporations file every tax year even if there is no tax payable, with a few listed exceptions.
When is the T2 due, and when do I pay?
The filing deadline is six months after year end. A December 31 year end means June 30. The balance due date is different: generally two months after year end, so the money is due before the return is.
Some small corporations get a third month. A Canadian-controlled private corporation (CCPC) has until three months after year end if it was a CCPC for the whole year and claimed the small business deduction this year or last. It also needs its previous year’s taxable income to be within its business limit, or the associated group’s combined incomes within their combined limits.
| Item | Rule |
|---|---|
| Filing deadline | Six months after tax year end |
| Balance due, most corporations | Two months after tax year end |
| Balance due, qualifying CCPCs | Three months after tax year end |
| Federal general rate | 15% |
| Federal rate with small business deduction | 9% |
Picture Priya, who runs a small design company in Ottawa with a September 30 year end. Her return isn’t due until March 31. If her corporation doesn’t qualify for the extra month, though, the cheque is due November 30, four months earlier. Mixing up those two dates is easy, and it’s the whole story behind plenty of penalty letters.
How much tax does a T2 come to?
Start with the federal side. The CRA’s corporation tax rates page lists a net federal rate of 15% for a general corporation and 9% for a CCPC claiming the small business deduction. Your province adds its own rate on top.
Say you run a CCPC in Ontario with $300,000 of active business income for calendar 2026. The corporate tax calculator gives $27,000 federal and $8,088 Ontario, for $35,088 in total, or 11.7%. That leaves $264,912 in the company. In Alberta the same income comes to $33,000, or 11.0%.
A word on that Ontario figure. Ontario lowered its small business rate on 1 July 2026, so a calendar year blends the old and new rates and the calculator’s 11.7% is a derived estimate. A year end that isn’t December will land somewhere else, and anything that changes after today should be checked on the CRA’s Ontario page before you rely on it.
The rate jumps above the business limit. At $600,000 the same Ontario corporation owes $84,980, an average of 14.2%, because the amount over $500,000 is taxed at the higher combined rate of 26.5%. If you aren’t a CCPC, you’d pay $79,500 on the same $300,000.
What does a late T2 cost?
The penalty is 5% of the tax unpaid on the filing deadline, plus 1% of it for each full month the return is late, up to 12 months. Use the calculator’s Ontario figure as an example. If $35,088 were still unpaid and the return arrived three full months late, the penalty would be 8%, or $2,807.04. That’s our arithmetic on the calculator’s result.
Repeat offenders pay more. If the CRA demanded a return and assessed a failure to file penalty in any of the three previous years, the penalty for a CCPC rises to 10% plus 2% per month, up to 20 months. Interest on late payments comes on top of that. The rate changes, so check the current one with the CRA.
What if the corporation did nothing this year?
You still file. A dormant company with no sales and no expenses owes no tax, but the return is still expected. A nil return takes far less effort than the penalty letter you’d get for skipping it, so put the date in your calendar when you set the company up.
Mistakes and limits to watch
The usual slip is waiting to pay until you file. It feels natural because the return is the visible job. The CRA counts the payment as late anyway, and interest starts running from the earlier date.
The calculator also skips several things. It ignores taxable capital and passive income limits, associated corporations sharing one business limit, and credits. It leaves out tax on money paid out to owners unless you tick the payout option, and the dividend tax calculator lets you run your own dividend amounts. If you pay staff, the payroll remittance calculator covers a separate set of deadlines. The GST/HST calculator handles the sales tax side.
Quebec corporations follow provincial rules of their own, with different dates for the provincial return. Check those with Revenu Quebec.
Where these figures come from
Deadlines, the three month rule and the penalties come from the Canada Revenue Agency‘s pages on balance due day, avoiding penalties and 2026 business tax deadlines, read in September 2026. Federal rates come from its corporation tax rates page, and provincial rates from the data behind our calculator. Some provincial figures are still under review. This site is independent and isn’t a government service.
Frequently asked questions
Who has to file a T2 return?
Every corporation files one, including corporations with no tax to pay, within six months of tax year end.
When is the tax due on a T2?
Generally two months after year end. Some CCPCs that claimed the small business deduction get three months.
What is the late filing penalty?
5% of the tax unpaid on the filing deadline, plus 1% for each full month late, up to 12 months. A repeat penalty is 10% plus 2% a month, up to 20 months.
What are the federal corporate tax rates?
The net federal rate is 15% for general corporations and 9% for CCPCs claiming the small business deduction. Provinces add their own.
Does the calculator show my exact tax?
No. It ignores associated corporations, taxable capital, passive income limits and credits, and Ontario's 2026 rate is a blended estimate.
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